OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi guard Marshall Henderson received a public reprimand from the NCAA on Wednesday because of his actions following a third-round loss during the NCAA tournament in March.

The NCAA said Henderson made an “inappropriate gesture” toward the crowd after losing to LaSalle.

Henderson averaged more than 20 points per game last season as the Rebels advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002, but was also a lightning rod for criticism because of his boisterous on-court personality.

Ole Miss released a statement from basketball coach Andy Kennedy on Wednesday, saying Henderson had “accepted responsibility for his actions, and we are moving forward. We understand and appreciate the NCAA’s stance on unsportsmanlike behavior.”

Revamped Big East hires Ackerman commissioner

NEW YORK — The newly reconstituted Big East Conference hired former WNBA president Val Ackerman, a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, as its commissioner Wednesday.

Ackerman, 53, was the founding president of the WNBA and also was the first female president of USA Basketball, with both the men’s and women’s teams winning gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. She was most recently a consultant for the NCAA, and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

The Big East will be headquartered in New York City and begin official operations on July 1. Terms of Ackerman’s deal were not immediately announced.

“The Big East is incredibly fortunate to have Val Ackerman lead us into this exciting new chapter for our conference,” Providence College President the Rev. Brian J. Shanley said in a statement. “Val is exactly what the Big East needs: She embodies the highest personal and professional values of the sports industry, and is a hard-charging and innovative leader who can shepherd the conference to continued success.”

The revamped conference announced in March that it would include the Big East’s so-called “Catholic 7” basketball schools — Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova — as well as Creighton from the Missouri Valley Conference, and Butler and Xavier from the Atlantic-10.

Doctors recommend wrist surgery for Teixeira

NEW YORK — Doctors have recommended that Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira have surgery on his right wrist, which likely would end his season.

The Yankees said Wednesday that the All-Star had an MRI with dye contrast and that team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad said the torn tendon sheath had not adequately healed. New York said hand specialists Drs. Melvin Rosenwasser of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Michelle Carlson of the Hospital for Special Surgery and Keith Raskin of the New York University School of Medicine school concurred.

Teixeira was hurt while hitting off a tee March 5, when he was with the U.S. team at the World Baseball Classic.

He made his season debut May 31, then came out of a game June 15 because of inflammation.

Landry opts out of contract with Warriors

OAKLAND, Calif. — Power forward Carl Landry has opted out of the final year of his two-year, $8 million deal with the Golden State Warriors to become a free agent.

The Warriors had expected Landry to become a free agent. General manager Bob Myers said last week that Landry’s contract called for him to inform the team of his decision before today, when the NBA draft will take place.

The 29-year-old Landry averaged 10.8 points and six rebounds in 23.2 minutes off the bench last season.